Casework Officer in Devon

As a Casework Officer, you will be at the heart of our frontline homelessness service, providing advice, support and statutory assessments to people at risk of losing their homes. Managing a varied caseload, you will work closely with customers to prevent homelessness wherever possible, helping them access and sustain suitable accommodation. You will carry out homelessness assessments, develop personalised housing plans and work in partnership with landlords, support services and other agencies to secure practical, sustainable solutions. Where prevention is not possible, you will apply homelessness legislation to make timely, accurate decisions and support customers through the process.

Working in a fast-paced and often challenging environment, you will take a trauma-informed, person-centred approach to your work, helping people navigate complex situations and move towards stable housing and improved outcomes.

About the team: Exeter City Council is transforming its Housing Needs and Homelessness service to create a more proactive, compassionate, and effective system for the city. Following a comprehensive review of our homelessness pressures, we have redesigned our services to focus on early intervention, trauma informed practice, and integrated multi agency working. This transformation includes new specialist teams, a strengthened commissioning model, clearer pathways, and a renewed focus on prevention, quality, and outcomes for vulnerable residents.

We are now recruiting ambitious and motivated leaders to help deliver this new model. These roles offer the chance to shape a modern, evidence led service, drive innovation, and make a meaningful difference to people experiencing homelessness in Exeter. Join us and be part of building a system that delivers better support, better value, and better outcomes for our community.

You are a passionate and resilient housing professional with experience of working with people facing homelessness or complex housing challenges. You are committed to delivering high-quality, person-centred support and understand the importance of early intervention in preventing homelessness and improving lives. You have a sound working knowledge of homelessness legislation, welfare benefits and housing rights, and are confident applying this in practice to assess need, make decisions and provide accurate advice.

You are comfortable managing a varied caseload, balancing competing demands and working at pace while maintaining attention to detail. You are a strong communicator, able to build trust and rapport with customers while also working effectively with landlords, partners and other agencies. You are confident handling difficult or sensitive situations with empathy, professionalism and clear boundaries, and you are able to influence and negotiate to achieve positive outcomes.

You have excellent organisational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyse complex situations and develop practical, sustainable housing solutions. You work well both independently and as part of a team, taking initiative while contributing positively to team priorities and service improvements. You approach your work in a trauma-informed, non-judgemental way and are committed to safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion. Above all, you are motivated to make a real difference, helping people secure and sustain safe, stable accommodation and move forward positively with their lives.

At Exeter City Council we are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. To support this commitment we will strive to implement reasonable adjustments to support any members of our communities who face barriers in recruitment processes, irrespective of the reason.